Manuel Luciano da Silva has dedicated about 65 years of his life to furthering the theory that the markings on Dighton Rock prove that Portuguese explorer Miguel Corte-Real was the first European to come to what would become the United States in 1511.

Manuel Luciano da Silva has dedicated about 65 years of his life to furthering the theory that the markings on Dighton Rock prove that Portuguese explorer Miguel Corte-Real was the first European to come to what would become the United States in 1511.

“I always liked history because my father was a sea captain,” said da Silva, 85, a Portuguese-American physician who has volunteered as the longtime director of the Dighton Rock Museum in Berkley. “He told me, ‘When you go to America, I want you to go see this monument, Dighton Rock, which has the name of a Portuguese navigator.’ So I said okay.”

Da Silva gave a lecture about the history of Dighton Rock at St. Nicholas of Myra Church in Dighton on Saturday afternoon. Da Silva said it was his 511th public lecture on the subject.

The lecture was part of a year of events celebrating Dighton’s tricentennial.

Da Silva said he saw Dighton Rock for the first time on Aug. 14, 1948, on a trip to Massachusetts while he was a pre-medical student at New York University. Da Silva described his quest to find the rock, which was submerged in the Taunton River at the time, and his work to have the rock removed from the river, to decipher the symbols on it, and to help found the Dighton Rock Museum.

“Miguel Corte-Real left his calling card, his name and Portuguese symbols engraved on Dighton Rock,” da Silva said.

Historical records show that Corte-Real never returned to Lisbon after he left the Portuguese capital on an exploration trip to the western Atlantic.

Da Silva claims that the rock bears Corte-Real’s name along with several markings that he believes are Portuguese symbols, including the Portuguese royal coat of arms — both “U” and “V” shaped — the cross of the Order of Christ and the date 1511. Da Silva said that other theories about who left the markings — including ones involving the Vikings, the Phoenicians and Native Americans — are all erroneous.

Da Silva urged audience members to look at pictures of the symbols, which he highlighted, and to decide for themselves.

Da Silva pointed out that he is not the only one to study the rock and conclude that the markings were made by the Portuguese. Da Silva noted that Edmund Delabarre, a researcher and professor of psychology at Brown University, became famous in the early 1900s for his interpretation that the inscriptions were carvings left by Corte-Real, including the coat of arms of Portugal; and Da Silva also talked about how New York University language professor Joseph Damaso Fragoso was a big defender of the Portuguese theory.

Throughout the lecture, Da Silva referred to Dighton Rock as his “mistress” because of his passion for the history surrounding the landmark.

“My wife and I have been doing this, spending so many thousands of hours on this, for love,” said Da Silva, who lives in Bristol, R.I. “We didn’t make any money. I made my money in medicine but not with my mistress. I love my mistress and my wife also loves our mistress.”

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During the lecture, da Silva showed pictures of him and the rock featured in National Geographic, along with a picture of a hotel in Portugal that was named after Dighton Rock. The “Rock of Dighton” hotel was inaugurated in 1977 in Oliveira de Azemeis in Portugal, after Portuguese businessman Anthony Marques learned of the rock’s history through one of da Silva’s four books about Dighton Rock, which was called “Portuguese Pilgrims and Dighton Rock,” published in 1971.

To learn more about the theory that Miguel Corte-Real came to southeastern Massachusetts and made his mark on Dighton Rock, visit da Silva’s website at www.dightonrock.com.